Vacuum-cleaner.



E. F. SWANSON.

VACUUM CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20. I915.

151 60,?6. Patented Nov. 16, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

INVENTOR. WITNESS: I A I I A TTORNEYL.

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VACUUM CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20. 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 16, 1915.

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VACUUM-CLEANER.

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Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NOV. 16, 1915.

Application filed May 20, 1915. Serial No. 29,405.

ToaZZ whom it may concern I Be it known that I, EMiL F. SwANsoN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Galesburg', in the county of Knox and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Vacuum-Cleaner, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates primarily to that class of vacuum cleaners or machines for collecting dust which are mounted on a wheeled truck and which are operated by a gasolene engine or other suitable motor, but as the nature of the invention is more fully disclosed it will be apparent that my improvements may be incorporated in other types of like devices.

The principal end and object of the invention is to generally improve and simplify the construction, and to increase the capacity, utility and efficiency of machines of this character.

Another object is to provide screens or separators which may with ease and facility be positioned in or removed from the casing.

Another object is to provide a novel passage from the primary to the secondary screen.

A further object is to provide novel means for retaining the dirt-receptacle and screens in position. 5

Another object is to provide novel telescopically connected screens and novel means for holding them together and in position.

Still another object is to provide novel means for govering the suction.

Other objects, some of which will be obvious and others of which will be particularly pointed out, will presently appear.

The invention consists, substantially, in the improvements hereinafter described, and in modifications thereof.

For the purpose of illustratingmy invention I have shown in the accompanying drawings that form thereof which is at present preferred by me, since it has been found in practice to give superior results, I

but it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of and in which my invention consists may and can be variously constructed, arranged and organized, and that I do not contemplate the scope of the invention as limited to the structure shown and described, but consider it as covering all such changes as fairly fall within the general idea thereof.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2, a front elevation, the pipes and elbows shown in modified or slightly d lferent positions from those illustrated in F igs. 1 and 3; Fig. 3, a top plan; Fig. 4, a perspective detail of the screens, etc; Fig. 5, an enlarged longitudinal central section;

and Fig. 6, a perspective detail of the bucket.

tion of they elements 1, 2, 3 and 4 is of course immaterial.

.6 designates the casing-top, shown as secured by eye-bolts 7, nuts 8 and screw-bolts 9 to the upper end thereof and provided of a suction pipe 11 anda dust-pipelO.

12, 12 indicate screw-plugs which may be removed whereby the hand of the operator, or a tool, may beinserted into the casing.

13, 13 designate openings in the wall of the casing.

14 indicates a by-pass secured byscrewbolts 15 to the casing and arranged to cover said apertures. It is centrally apertured for the passage of a valve-stem 16 provided at one end with a head 17 and at its other end with threads 18 which are engaged by a nut 19.

i 20 indicates an expansion spring.

21, 21 indicate a plurality of air-inlets for a purpose presently described.

Now see Figs. 4 and 5. A tube 22 telescopes over the lower portion of the pipe 10 and on its upper end is suitably secured a cup-shaped spider 23 over the arms ofv which is stretched a foraminous screen or separator 24. In operative position the ring of said. spider fits snugly up against an annular shoulder 26 in the container 5. The tube 22 telescopes into a tube 25 to which is suitably secured a spider 27 the arms of which are covered by a foraminous screen or separator 28. For the purposes of this specification the screen 28 will be termed a primary screen and the screen 24 a second i with threaded apertures forthe engagement ary one. Fitted onthe lower endof the tube is a slip-joint 29 provided at its upper end with a bead 30 against which rests the upper portion of an expansion spring 31, the lower portion of the spring resting on the cross-bar or bail 32 of a bucket V or dirt-receptacle 33' which fits quite snugly but removably in the lower end of the casing 5. 34 indicates a bracket-supporting arm secured by'bolts 35 to the casing 5, its lower end threaded for the engagement of a nut- 36. 37 indicates a substantially U- shaped clamping-bracket havingin its cross or horizontal'bar an aperture 38 through which passes, somewhat loosely, the arm 34,

which. arm thus provides both a fulcrum and a pivot for said bracket. 39 designates a foot adapted to support the dirt-receptacle 33. The threaded end 40 of a crank screw 41 engages a threaded aperture in the outer vertical arm of the bracket 37 its ter- .minal bearing against the arm 34. A nut 42 may be used as a lock-nut if desired. A fan or other suitable exhaust or vacuuminducing device, (which, inasmuch as it constitutes no part of the invention is not shown,) communicates with the pipe 11 in the usual manner of such devices. A hose, to which is attached the usual nozzle, (neither of which is shown,) is to be attached to the inlet pipe 10. The suction created by the fan will suck or draw the dust through said nozzle, hose, andpipe 10, and the tendency thereof will then be topass up through the primary screen 28 which will remove all the heavier parts thereof and they will fall in'to the" bucket or dirt-receptacle 33. The

lighter'particles will pass out through the openings 13 in the casing, through the recess or passage in the bypass, and thence to where they will be caught by the sec- "ondary screen 24. The power or suction of the vacuum-lnducing means 18 always the same When the motive power is running at the same predetermined rate of speed. It is sometimes desirable, however, that the suction be reduced, and inconvenient or impossible to reduce the rate of speed of the engine. In order to accomplish this reduction of suction the nut 19 may bethreaded outwardly on the valve-stem threads 18,to reduce the tension of the spring 20 and thereby reduce the force with which the valvehead 17 is held against the face of the bypass 14, thus permitting air to enter through the apertures 21, the quantity of air thus entering the casing being determined by the -saicl casing the elements 22, 25, 29 and 31 and the connected parts are then inserted through the open bottom thereof and raised 'until the tube 22 slips onto the pipe 10,

whereupon the bucket 33 is placed in the position shown in Fig. 5. Some little force is required to place the bucket in said position, for the bail 32 will strike the spring 31, and sufficient force must be exerted to overcome its resistance and to compress it. This having been accomplished, the ring 23 will fit snugly against the shoulder 26, the bead 13 on the tube 25 will bear upward against the apex of the conical spider 23, and the bead 30 on the slip-joint will be forced upwardly to bear against the apex of the conical spider 27, said elements moving from the positions shown in Fig. 1 to those shown in Fig. 5, whereby a close and firm union of said elements is attained. In order to permit the removal of said elements, a few unthreading turns are given to the crank-screw l0 whereby to loosen it from its contact with the arm 31, whereupon the bracket 37 being thus loosened to have a slight fulcruming or vertical movement (whereby the foot 39 is freed from the bottom of the dirt-receptacle 33) may be swung on its pivot to move it out from under said receptacle. The dirt-receiver and the elements supported thereby will then fall by gravity from the casing, for cleaning, repairs, etc. As the screens should be cleaned at short intervals in order to achieve the best results, the advantages and utility of the quickreinoval and equally quick replacement feature of my improvements will be apparent. Should any of the elements contained in the casing bind therein they may be loosened by removing one or both of the plugs and striking the spider 23, the downward movement of which will drive both screens, the slip-joint, thespring 31 and the bucket likewise.

Having thus described-the nature of my invention I claim as new the following, towit 1. In a vacuum cleaner, a casing having a plurality of openings in its side, a dust-pipe and a suction-pipe communicating with the casing, a by-pass seated over said openings, a screen arranged in the casing, disposed on a horizontal plane between said openings,

and a screen in a higher plane in said casing.

2. In combination a vacuum cleaner, a

casing having an opening in its side, a bypass seated thereover, a spring governed valve in the by-pass for the admission of air thereinto, a screen in the casing, and a dustpipe and a suction pipe communicating with the casing.

3. In a vacuum cleaner, a casing having an opening in its side, a by-pass seated over said opening, a'clust-pipe and a suction-pipe communicating with the casing, a screen ar- -ranged in the casing and removable therefrom, disposed opposite said by-pa'sls, a dirtreceptacle adapted to support said screen, and means for supporting said receptacle.

4. In a vacuum cleaner, a casing having an aperture in its side, a bypass secured to said casing and seated over said aperture, a top secured on the casing, an exhaust-pipe communicating with the casing, a dust-inlet pipe also communicating therewith, a screen arranged in the casing opposite said bypass, a secondary screen arranged in said casing and in a higher plane than the one above recited, a dust-receptacle arranged removably within the casing and adapted to support the lower one of said screens, and means for securing said receptacle in place.

5. In a vacuum cleaner, a casing having apertures in its side, a bypass secured to said casing and seated over said apertures, a top secured on the casing, an exhaust-pipe and an intake-pipe each communicating with said casing through said top, a screen arranged in said casing and disposed on a horizontal plane intermediate said apertures, a screen in a higher plane in the casing, and a dirt-receiver for supporting the lower screen.

6. In a vacuum cleaner, a casing having apertures in its side, a by-pass seated over said apertures and secured to said casing, a top secured on the casing, an exhaust-pipe communicating with said casing through said top, an intake-pipe communicating with said casing through said top, a screen-covered spider, a tube for supporting it, said tube telescopically engaged with the intakepipe, a screen-covered spider, a tube for supporting it, the last recited spider disposed in a lower horizontal plane than the one above recited and their tubes telescopically en gaged, the lower spider lying in the same horizontal plane as the bypass, and means for supporting the lower tube.

7. In a vacuum cleaner, a casing, a top secured thereon, telescopically connected screens slidable longitudinally of and in said casing, a dirt-receptacle below said screens and slidable in said casing, a dust-pipe and a suction-pipe communicating with the casing and means adapted to retain said receptacle and thereby said screens within said casing.

8. In a vacuum cleaner, a casing, a top thereon, telescopically connected screens slidable longitudinally of and in said casing, a dirt receptacle beneath said screens, a du stpipe and a suction-pipe communicating with the casing, and a spring interposed between the lower one of said screens and said receptacle, for supporting both screens for holding them yieldingly together.

9. In a vacuum cleaner, a casing, an upper screen therein, a lower screen also therein, telescopically connected with the upper one, a dust-pipe with which said upperscreen is telescopically connected, an eX- haust-pipe communicating with the casing, a slip-joint telescopically connected with the lower screen, a (bust-receptacle, and a yielding support interposed between said slipjoint and dust receptacle.

. 10. In combination in a vacuum cleaner, a by-pass, a casing to which it is secured and with which it communicates, a valve in the bypass, a spring cooperating with the valve to hold it operatively against the bypass, means for regulating the tension of the spring, a valve in the bypass, a dust-pipe and asuction-pipe communicating with the casing and a screen within the casing.

11. In a vacuum cleaner, a cylindrical casing having an annular shoulder, a top secured on the casing, a dust-pipe and an exhaust-pipe communicating with the casing, a screen-spider adapted to rest against the lower face of said shoulder, a tube secured to the first recited spider, a tube telescopically connected with said tube, a screenspider supported by the last recited tube, a dust-receptacle removably seated in the casing, means for holding it therein, and a spring interposed between the lower one of said screens and said receptacle, for holding said screens tightly together and for supporting them.

12. In a vacuum cleaner, a casing, an upper screen-frame therein, a tube for supporting it, a lower screen-frame, a tube for supporting it, said tubes telescopically connected, a slip-joint slidably seated on the lower tube and its upper end adapted to rest against said lower frame, and a dust-pipe and an exhaust-pipe communicating with the casing.

13. In a vacuum cleaner, a casing, a top secured thereon, a dust-pipe communicating with said casing through said top, a secondary screen covered spider, a dust-tube secured to and supporting said spider and telescopically connected with said dust-pipe, a primary screen-covered spider, a dust-tube secured to and supporting it, said tubes telescopically connected, an exhaust-pipe communicating with the casing and means disposed within said casing for supporting the primary and thereby the secondary spider.

14. In a vacuum-cleaner, a casing, an upper screen-frame therein, a tube secured thereto and supporting it, a lower screenframe, a tube secured thereto and supporting it, said tubes telescopically connected and the top of the lower tube adapted to an aperture in its side, a top on said casing,

an air-exhaust pipe and a dust-pipe communicating with said casing through said top, a by-pass secured to said casing, overlying said aperture and provided Withan opening for a valve-stem and with air-inlets adjacent said opening, a valve-stem in said opening, provided with a head adapted to close said inlets, and a screen disposed in substantially the same horizontal plane'as is said bypass.

l6. In a vacuum-cleaner, a casing having an aperture in its side, a top on said casing, a suction-pipe and a dust-pipe communicating with said casing through said top, a by pass secured to saidcasing, overlying said aperture and provided with an opening for a valve-stem and with air-inlets adjacent said opening, a valve-stem in said opening,

provided with a head adapted to close said inlets, means for controlling said valve, and a screen disposed in substantially the same horizontal plane as is said by-pass.

17. In a vacuum-cleaner, a casing having an aperture in its side, a top secured thereon, an air-exhaust pipe and a dust-pipe oommunicating with said casing through said top, a by-pass secured to said casing, overlying said aperture and provided with airinlets, a valve for closing said inlets, a spring for controlling the valve, and a screen disposed in said casing opposite said bypass.

18. In a vacuum-cleaner, a, casing having open ends, a closure secured on the top thereof and provided with a plurality of openings, an air-exhaust pipe secured in one of said openings, a dust-pipe secured in another thereof, a screen arranged in said casing, a dirt-receptacle for supporting it, and a swinging clamp adapted to support said receptacle, said screen and receptacle adapted to be removed from the lower end of the casing when the clamp is swung to an inoperative position.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I hereto subscribe my name at Galesburg, Knox county, Illinois, this 17th day of May, 1915.

EMIL F. SIVANSON.

Copies of this trade-mark may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. O. 

